Minety Church of England Primary School

Minety Church of England Primary School Sawyers Hill, Minety, Malmesbury, SN16 9QL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils make good progress and achieve well, often leaving with standards that are well above the national average.  Teaching is good because teachers plan work that is well adapted for all abilities. The teaching of phonics (the sounds letters make) is a particular strength.  There are many enrichment opportunities for pupils in a wide variety of subjects.  Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to their learning. They feel safe.  The care for pupils, particularly those whose circumstances make them vulnerable, is effective.  Senior leaders have improved achievement and teaching, and ensure this sense of purpose is shared by all staff.  Pupils at risk of underachievement are quickly identified and given good support to help them catch up.  The governing body has a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development, and uses finance to maximum effect.  Relationships with parents are strong and they

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not consistently good in every class, particularly in Key Stage 1, and not enough is outstanding.  Teachers do not always have high expectations of what pupils can achieve or check frequently enough whether pupils are making rapid progress.  Marking does not consistently tell pupils what they need to do to improve and give them opportunities to respond.  Senior leaders, including the governing body, do not always match their checks on improvement priorities carefully enough with the identified areas for improvement.  Information about the progress and attainment of pupils is not always presented clearly enough to enable staff and governors to make best use of it.  Attendance, although rapidly rising, is still broadly average.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited 11 lessons taught by eight different teachers, held meetings with governors, staff, and groups of pupils, and spoke with a representative of the local authority. Six lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at planning documents, monitoring records, assessment data on pupils’ progress and attainment, and pupils’ work.  The inspector took account of 73 responses to Parent View (the online questionnaire), 21 responses to the staff questionnaire and one individual letter from a member of staff in reaching inspection judgements about the school.

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Inspection team

David Shears, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Minety Church of England Primary is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported by school action is above average, while the proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  Very few pupils are supported by the pupil premium, which is additional funding for children in local authority care, those known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils with a parent or carer in the armed services.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  A pre-school provision also operates on the school site. This provision is managed externally and so is subject to separate inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement, especially in Key Stage 1, so that it is consistently outstanding, by ensuring that:  all teachers have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve in all lessons  teachers regularly check whether all groups of pupils are making rapid progress and intervening where they are not  marking clearly tells pupils the next steps to take in their learning and gives them practical opportunities to respond.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management, including the governing body, so that it becomes outstanding, by ensuring that:  identified areas for development are rigorously checked to see whether they have been achieved in all classes  there is a clearer system for recording the attainment and progress of pupils, including all pupil groups, to enable staff, school leaders and the governing body to easily identify areas that need further development  the school identifies further strategies to improve attendance so that it is at least above average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children arrive with skills and knowledge that are usually in line with, and sometimes below, those typical for their age. They settle quickly and make a good start in the Reception class because they have weekly visits to the school before joining and so are very familiar with their surroundings.  Strong links with parents are formed and these are continued throughout the school. Children begin to make good progress from their starting points. For example, in one lesson children were exploring the sound ‘qu’ together. While some children practised tracing and then reading the sound using a quill, more able children were using words beginning with ‘qu’ to write sentences.  While the progress in Key Stage 1 has not been as strong as in Key Stage 2, it is improving well and was good last year. As a result, attainment is rising and is now above average. For example, pupils of differing abilities were seen to be making good progress in taking a well-known fairy

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The achievement of pupils is good

tale and retelling the story in their own words.  Progress is securely good throughout Key Stage 2 in both English and mathematics so that pupils leave Year 6 with attainment that is often well above average. Pupils have good opportunities to learn in enjoyable ways, such as through investigations. For example, in one lesson, pupils were learning well how to construct decimals and round them up and down to try and make them nearest to a particular whole number.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress from their varied starting points. Similarly, more able pupils also make good progress. This is because work given to these pupils enables them to make good gains in their learning. In the most successful lessons, where the teacher has high expectations of all pupils, they make excellent progress, such as in one lesson seen where pupils were writing their own version of a film clip using

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The achievement of pupils is good

dialogue.  The pupil premium is used well to support individual pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils make good gains in their learning because teaching is effective. Teachers, including those in the Early Years Foundation Stage, plan lessons that interest and engage pupils so that they want to learn. Increasingly, technology is being used to enhance the learning experience for pupils, such as the introduction of special equipment as a means for pupils to record book reviews. Pupils respond well to these opportunities and say that they enjoy learning about new things.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and are skilled in communicating this well to pupils. Helpful techniques are used effectively through the school to help pupils know when they have made good progress in the lesson. They have the opportunity to assess for themselves whether they have been successful in their learning. The techniques used also indicate to the teacher how easy or difficult pupils found the work, and help teachers to plan effectively for the next

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The quality of teaching is good

lesson.  Teaching assistants are used well to enhance learning. For example, they ask searching questions of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage to enable them to think hard. They support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs so that they can access learning more readily, and also enable more able pupils to be further challenged.  There are many opportunities for pupils to enhance their learning through different subjects. For example, one class made excellent progress in exploring how vibrations change when the length of a ruler is altered. Pupils remember well what they have learnt and enjoy ‘theme weeks’ and the wide variety of clubs on offer. In particular, physical education is a strength of the school and the extra funding for it is used well to engage outside professionals to teach sport and physical skills. Teachers attend and make notes of effective practice so that they are able to

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The quality of teaching is good

share this good practice and use it themselves to enhance pupils’ physical well-being.  While pupils make good progress, teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils of all abilities can achieve in lessons and so do not always challenge them to reach their full potential as learners. Not all teachers check regularly enough to see whether all groups of pupils are making rapid progress. Consequently, not enough pupils make outstanding progress.  Occasionally, when pupils are not challenged enough by the learning in lessons, some lose concentration and are easily distracted. Consequently their progress slips.  Marking is always completed and there are often positive comments about pupils’ work. However, pupils are not always told how they could improve their work or given enough opportunities to respond to this guidance in practical ways.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils, staff and parents all agree that pupils behave well, both in the playground and in lessons. In lessons, pupils concentrate well and want to learn across the school. They enjoy learning together but are equally able to work on their own when required.  Pupils say that while behaviour is generally good in the playground, occasionally there are differences of opinion, usually about the rules of a game. However, they are confident that they are able to resolve these issues for themselves most of the time, but know that an adult is on hand should they need any help.  Pupils have a clear understanding of what constitutes bullying and the different forms which it can take. They assert that bullying in school is extremely rare and so they all feel safe. School records of bullying incidents show this to be accurate.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils are taught how to keep safe in

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

lessons. For example, older pupils know how to keep themselves safe on the internet and younger pupils say they know about keeping safe on the road. While pupils are beginning to learn about looking after others from older pupils looking after younger ones, this practice is not yet embedded in the behaviour of all pupils. This is why the safety of pupils is currently good rather than outstanding.  Attendance has been a challenge for the school to improve in the past when it was low. However, last year much was done to tackle this issue through weekly checking of pupils’ attendance and following up poor attendance more rigorously. As a result, attendance is now broadly average and is continuing to improve rapidly. However, despite the school’s vigilance, a wider range of strategies are not yet being applied to ensure that attendance is consistently above average.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders and the governing body have a good understanding of the strengths of the school and what needs to be done to improve achievement and teaching further. Their vision for improvement is shared by all staff, and care of pupils and staff is a strength. The school works hard to eliminate any discrimination and also to ensure that pupils have equal opportunities for learning and care.  Senior leaders regularly check the progress of pupils and, where there are any identified at risk of underachievement, extra support is given to ensure that they catch up. This work has been successful. Consequently, over the last two years, all pupils leaving Year 6 made at least the rate of progress expected nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.  School leaders ensure that there is an effective range of opportunities across different subjects to enhance pupils’ learning. This includes opportunities for pupils to engage in activities which

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The leadership and management are good

enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The effectiveness of subject leaders has improved well since the previous inspection. They have good subject knowledge and are able to use assessment of pupils’ progress and attainment to check what is going well and to identify areas for further improvement which are then recorded in action plans. Subject leaders are given specific opportunities to evaluate pupils’ progress. They are enthusiastic and enjoy finding new ways to enhance learning for pupils.  The school has a strong relationship with parents. Parents are highly supportive of the school in every aspect. All who responded to Parent View would recommend the school to other parents.  Senior leaders rigorously check the effectiveness of teaching and give good support to individual teachers in helping them to improve their practice. However, the identified areas for whole-

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The leadership and management are good

school development are not always checked rigorously enough to see if they have been successfully implemented and embedded in the work of all classes.  Records are kept of the progress and attainment of pupils. However, the records are not presented in a clear enough format so that staff and governors can easily see how well groups of pupils are performing and be able to challenge the school towards further improvement.  The local authority continues to provide regular support for the school. For example, it has worked well with the school’s leadership to improve the Early Years Foundation Stage, which has now improved since the previous inspection.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is fully supportive of the school. It has a clear understanding of the available data on pupils’ progress and attainment and how the school performs compared to other primary schools nationally. With school leaders, governors have an accurate assessment

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The leadership and management are good

of the overall effectiveness of the school. The governing body manages the finance of the school well and there are effective procedures to ensure that the performance of teachers is accurately matched to decisions about their pay. Governors understand what the quality of teaching is across the school. They also have a clear understanding of how money is used to support the very few pupils who benefit from the pupil premium funding and what difference this is making to their progress. Similarly, extra money allocated for sport and physical education is checked for its effectiveness in enhancing pupils’ mental and physical well-being. While governors challenge leaders in meetings, the checks that they make on the main areas of development are not always focused enough on identified priorities. Governors make sure that safeguarding arrangements meet government requirements.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 126379 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 434591

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 125 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Paul Woodfield Headteacher Sally Greaves Date of previous school inspection 10 March 2009 Telephone number 01666 860257 Fax number 01666 860095 Email address admin@minety.wilts.sch.uk guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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